1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a marking device for use in the housing industry. The marking device of this invention is used to mark various building components such as, for example, baseboards, sill plates, roof decks, floor decks and the like so that they may be quickly and accurately positioned and secured at standarized spaced intervals to other building components such as, for example, studs, joists, rafters, trusses and the like.
Heretofore, the marking of building components has been done manually by a carpenter or his helper with a ruler and a pencil. For example, in erecting a wall, it has been necessary for a carpenter to locate with a ruler and mark on the base plate the centerline for each stud or joist. (Usually each stud is spaced at 16 inch intervals from each other.) This function is tedious and time consuming. Further, it has been necessary for the carpenter or his helper to climb upon the wall after its erection and to locate and mark the centerline for trusses and the like that are later mounted and secured to the top plate of the wall. This function is likewise tedious and time consuming and, moreover, it is dangerous as the carpenter or his helper can easily fall from his precarious perch on top of the wall.
In covering a roof with shingles or the like, it has been necessary for a carpenter or his helper to locate with a ruler and mark the rows at which shingles for covering the roof are to be aligned. (Usually each row of shingles is spaced at four-inch intervals from the preceding row of shingles.) Again, this function is tedious and time consuming.
In securing plywood sheeting to joists or the like to provide a roof or floor, a carpenter or his helper have found it difficult to locate unseen joists or studs beneath the sheeting and, frequently, the nails miss the underlying joists or studs.
Consequently, the plywood sheeting is not properly and adequately nailed to the underlying joists. In floors, this failure to properly secure the sheeting to the underlying joists can cause the floor to squeak under normal foot traffic.
Accordingly, there has been a long-felt need for a versatile marking device that can be used easily and quickly to mark spaced intervals on a variety of selected workpieces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,779 (Klein) describes and illustrates a marking device of limited utility in the building industry for marking building components such as 2 .times. 4's at standardized intervals. The marking device of Klein comprises a wheel having four marking pens inserted inside it that project from the peripheral surface of the wheel. As the wheel rotates over a workpiece, the marking pens impart four tiny dots on the workpiece; the appropriate building components are spaced between the four tiny dots. The wheel of the Klein device is journalled to a bifurcated handle having legs extending beyond the periphery of the wheel and straddling the workpiece to be marked. The Klein device has several limitations. For example, it can be used only on workpieces that can be straddled by the bifurcated legs of the handle. If the width of the wheel or the distance between the legs is greater than the width of the workpiece, the guides will not engage the edge of the workpiece and, accordingly, the device will mark the workpiece erratically and not in a straight line. Or, if the width of the wheel or the distance between the legs is less than the width of the workpiece, the device cannot be conveniently used at all.
The four dots made by the Klein device may be easily obscured as contrasted to a solid line extending across the width of the workpiece to be marked. The Klein device cannot be used on a flat or extended planar surface such as, for example, a roof or a floor deck because the guides extend beyond the periphery of the wheel and would interfere with its travel.
Another marking device of limited utility in the building industry is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,451,595 (Wheeler). The marking device of Wheeler comprises a wheel having at least two projecting marking elements extending substantially across the entire width of the wheel on its peripheral surface which impart two spaced lines on the workpiece to be marked. The appropriate building component is positioned between the two marks. The marking wheel further has a flange to one edge of the wheel to be used as a guide. The wheel is journalled to an extended arm. The Wheeler device has several limitations. For example, the Wheeler device is restricted for use with building components having fixed dimensions (apparently, a two-inch width) as the marking element impart two lines between which the building components are to be placed. If the distance between the marks is normally two inches, then the marking device cannot be used with a building component having a width greater or less than two inches. A further limitation of the Wheeler device is its inability to be used on an extended planar surface such as a roof since the flange extending beyond the peripheral surface of the wheel is fixed thereto and would interfere with its travel.
Accordingly, I have developed a marking device that does not have the limitations of the devices of Wheeler and Klein and which has a greater versatility in the building industry as will appear more fully in the description of my invention. Moreover, my marking device is of greater simplicity and, quite surprisingly, of greater utility than the devices of the prior art.